Labour's victory in the Glasgow North East by-election hailed as an
endorsement of Gordon Brown, but few voters bothered to go to the polls.

Willie Bain, the Labour candidate, won the seat by more than 8,000 votes from David Kerr, the Scottish National Party challenger, and claimed the result was also a rejection of David Cameron.

But only a third of the electorate chose to cast their ballots, the lowest proportion ever in a Scottish by-election, as they decided against braving wintry weather in the evening and stayed at home.

Ruth Davidson, the Tory candidate, finished in third place, narrowly beating the British National Party’s Charlie Baillie, after a series of shadow Cabinet heavyweights visited the seat.

Mr Bain had been clear favourite to win the contest, but the scale of his victory, taking 59 per cent of the popular vote, was a surprise when the result was announced at the Scottish Exhibition Centre in the early hours of the morning.

In his victory speech, Mr Bain said: “The people have had their say. They back Gordon Brown and his efforts to secure our economic recovery.”

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He said the voters had sent a “resounding message” to Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, and Mr Cameron, adding: “They don’t want the Tories back and don’t want someone who thinks Thatcher’s economic policies were okay.

“The message for the general election is game on.”

Labour said there was little sign of the Tory leader’s popularity south of the Border extending to Scotland with a general election only six months away.

Jim Murphy, the Scottish Secretary, said the result was “humiliating” for David Cameron, who appeared on much of the Tories’ election literature, and the seven other members of the shadow Cabinet who campaigned.

But the Conservatives said the real loser was the SNP and its leader Alex Salmond, who has set his party a target of winning 20 Westminster seats at the general election.

A Tory spokesman said: “This is a disastrous vote for the SNP – the Conservatives are only 3,000 votes behind them. It just goes to show they are irrelevant in a British general election.”

Mr Salmond, the SNP leader and Scottish First Minister, said: “David Kerr achieved progress in what is the Labour Party’s safest seat in Scotland, despite a relentlessly negative Labour campaign. He did chalk up the SNP’s best share of the vote in this constituency for 35 years.

“Of course we are disappointed not to do better, and will reflect carefully on the result and the lessons to be learned."

The contest was triggered by the resignation of Michael Martin, the former Speaker and now Lord Martin of Springburn, who won a majority of more than 10,000 at the 2005 general election.

However, only the SNP, of the mainstream political parties, stood against him then and there were 13 candidates this time.

Despite the furore over the expenses scandal that prompted him to stand down, loyalty to Labour runs deep in large pockets of the seat, one of the most impoverished in the country.

The SNP overturned a larger deficit of about 13,500 in the Glasgow East by-election last year, but Labour has held Glasgow North East for 74 years.

Mr Bain’s status as the clear favourite was justified when the SNP conceded just an hour and a half after the count had begun.

The public law lecturer, won 12,231 votes, while Mr Kerr, a former BBC broadcaster, trailed with only 4,120 votes. Mr Bain’s majority was 8,111.

Miss Davidson, another former BBC journalist, won 1,075 votes, while Mr Baillie finished fourth with 1,013 votes. Hailing the result to a barrage of boos, the BNP candidate said: “In this contest we’re showing the voters of Scotland that we’re a credible alternative.”

However, the candidates of the four main parties refused to share the stage with him as he delivered his speech.

On Mr Baillie's fourth place finish, Mr Salmond said: “I bitterly regret the irresponsibility of the BBC and others for generating the ridiculous and wholly unwarranted volume of publicity the BNP received in Scotland.

"Yet they didn’t come third, they didn’t save their deposit, and they were resoundingly rejected by the people of Glasgow North East.”